With Love, Ellen
by UnicornRainbows
Summary: Ellen Riteman is moving away from Sweet Valley, California to...Stoneybrook, Connecticut. How is she going to deal with Stoneybrook life compared to her old life in Sweet Valley? A Unicorn ClubBSC crossover.
1. Chapter 1

With Love, Ellen

Chapter One

_Monday evening, after dinner_

_Hey, Diary. Ellen here. I know I sound glum today, but it's for a good reason. You'll probably never believe this, but we're moving. Mom and Dad are already separated and now they want to get divorced. Mom announced at dinner the moving plans. Dad came by three hours before to grab some of his things and then he went back to his apartment on the other side of town._

_My first thought was: **Are you guys crazy? Why would anyone want to move out? We have everything we need right here! **_

_So I literally yelled out that thought right out. And then Mom started explained her reasoning for moving out._

_She basically wasn't happy. She wanted to a fresh start; to begin a new life out of Sweet Valley, which I thought was totally stupid. There's no better place to live than Sweet Valley, no question. She wasn't even sure **where** she wanted to live. It didn't make any sense._

_Diary, this is so stupid. The only good thing I can see coming from all of this is that moving out will stop my parents from fighting all the time._

_I have no say in this matter. I don't want to move. I have my life here and I'm happy with it. I have a cool house with an even cooler bedroom. The mall is only a hop, skip and a jump away. Plus, I have the most awesome best friends ever in the world. I won't find people like them **anywhere**._

_Diary, I'm really depressed. What am I gonna do? _

_With Love, Ellen_

* * *

**T**hat Tuesday morning, I didn't feel like getting up. But my alarm clock just kept beeping loudly, not even giving me the chance to reach over and turn it off quickly just so I could get more sleep. 

I groaned in aggravation and slammed my palm on the snooze button.

I groggily got up from bed and walked towards the bathroom. My older sister, Sara, stepped out of the bathroom, wearing her white bathrobe and her long brown hair in tight hair curlers. She looked like…yesterday's newspapers. My sister's cool and everything, but sometimes she can look _so_ incredibly horrible.

"Bathroom's all yours, Ellen," she replied.

"Whatever," I replied, ducking in and slamming the door.

I quickly showered, dried off and got dressed. I brushed my hair and my teeth before running downstairs to quickly eat breakfast without talking to my mom.

Fat chance. As soon as I came downstairs, my mom gave me a bright smile and set down my food in front of me.

"Good morning, sweetie. You sleep well?"

I shrugged. "Yeah," I said.

Mom frowned. "You're not upset?"

"About what?" I asked, pretending not to understand what she was talking about.

"About moving, honey. You're not upset? Because I want you to know I've been looking at potential homes all across the country for weeks. Well, I think I found my dream home to live in. I found it last night."

I bit into a piece of dry toast, trying to tune her out.

"I don't want to move," My little brother, Mark, piped up.

I smiled at him gratefully.

Sara rolled her eyes. "You guys are_ so_ immature," she replied. "I want to listen to what Mom has to say."

"Traitor," I remarked.

Sara ignored me. "Go on, Mom," she said.

Mom looked excited. "I was flipping through this real estate magazine last night and I think I found the right home. Look," she replied, handing Sara the magazine.

All three of us kids took a peek at the home Mom wanted. It was a small white house with a small front yard. The windows had brown shutters.

"The house is still on the market. Isn't a_ lovely_ home?" She asked.

I raised my eyebrows skeptically. The house in the picture was nothing like our spacious house here. For one thing, it wasn't white with brown shutters and a small front yard. Our home was gray with no shutters. Plus, the yard was super large.

"Where is this house? L.A.?" Sara asked.

Mom shook her head. "No," she answered.

Sara guessed again. "San Francisco?"

"No."

"San Diego?"

"It's not even in California," Mom hinted. "The house is in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. That's where we're moving to."

My mouth gaped open. It stayed open for quite a long time.

"_Connecticut_? Mom, are you _nuts?_ " I asked two minutes later.

Mom frowned. "No, I don't believe I am," she said coolly.

"But what's waiting for us in boring old Connecticut?"

"We're moving to a small, quiet town there. I figured it would be the perfect place to start off to a fresh start. I called last night and bought the house."

"Without even _going_ to check out the house first? Mom, what if there are some problems with it? Did you even think first? Did you even bother to talk to us at all before you just decided you wanted to move? Don't you understand that I don't wanna move!?"

And with that, I stormed out and ran from the kitchen and out the door to school.

I looked at my watch. I had a good hour before I had to go to school, so I decided to meet with up Jessica Wakefield, a good friend of mine from school.

When I rang the doorbell, her twin sister, Elizabeth, answered the door.

"Oh. Hey, Ellen. Jessica's upstairs," she replied.

I was so mad, I didn't even answer her. I just stomped up the stairs to Jessica's room, which was a disaster area.

Before I explain our little meeting, let me introduce myself.

My name is Ellen Riteman. I live in Sweet Valley, California, a slightly small town. I'm thirteen years old and a student at Sweet Valley Middle School. I have light brown hair and light blue eyes. I'm one of the most popular girls in our school, which is because I'm a member as well as president of the Unicorn Club, a group of popular and pretty girls. Jessica is a member, which is how I know her. I've known her since we were in kindergarten, so she's always been a close friend of mine.

Jessica has long blond hair and blue-green eyes. So does her sister, Elizabeth. She and Elizabeth are identical twins, but I've always preferred to hang with Jessica. Elizabeth is cool and all, but I've always thought her to be very boring and dull. Nothing like Jessica.

Okay, back to our meeting.

Jessica closed her door. "Ellen, what's the matter?" she asked, sensing something was going on.

"We're moving," I announced bluntly.

Jessica looked confused. "Huh?" she asked.

"My dad is selling our old house as soon as we leave and Mom is planning on moving away," I said again.

Jessica looked shocked. "_Moving?_ Where? Why?" she asked.

"Mom wants to move to some stupid town in Connecticut called Stoneybrook. She says it's all quiet and stuff."

Jessica frowned. "Man, this is serious. And what about your dad?" she asked.

"I don't know. He came by last week to get his stuff and then he left. But I think he wants to stay in Sweet Valley, but just buy a smaller house."

Jessica didn't say anything. "This is something out of the blue, you know. What's going to happen to your presidency of the Unicorns?"

"That's something I don't _want_ to think about!" I replied.

"But, Ellen, you have to worry about it. I mean, when you leave, don't you want to have someone responsible running the club?"

"Jessica! There are more important things to worry about right now! My life is at stake!" I snapped.

"Okay, okay. You're right. Bring it up at the next Unicorn meeting. In the meantime, since you're here, you've gotta help me out! I'm having a hard time finding something to wear. Should I wear my jean Capris with the red tank or the white tank?" she asked, holding up both tank tops.

I frowned, deep in thought. After a minute or so, I made my decision. "White. White's, like, a very peaceful, pure color."

Jessica beamed. "Good!" she exclaimed.

She ran into the bathroom to change into the white top and Capri pants. Five minutes later, she came back in, fully dressed with her blond hair brushed and some light makeup on.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yep. Just let me grab an apple and a muffin for breakfast and then we'll be ready to go."

So she did and we split the Granny Smith apple and blueberry muffin on the way to school.

We ate and talked. Jessica filled me in on her latest conquest: A new kid in school named Richard Murray, a dark-haired kid with dimples and freckles.

"He's totally a cutie pie. What do you think, Ellen?" Jessica asked me.

"Yeah, he's cute, but no one's as cute as Peter Jeffries," I argued.

Jessica scoffed. "As much I like Richard, I still think the most cutest boy in SVMS is Bruce Patman, hands down," she replied.

I nodded. "Agreed," I said.

We arrived at the front part of the school building. We saw Elizabeth chatting with her drippy best friends in the Angel Club; Amy Sutton, Evie Kim, Maria Slater and Mary Wallace. Mary used to be a Unicorn, but afterwards, when she decided the club wasn't for her, she left the club and joined the Angels, a wanna-be version of us, but just more dorkier.

A few yards away, Jessica and I spotted our clique standing in front of a tall willow tree. Mandy Miller, Rachel Grant, Lila Fowler and Kimberly Haver were all chatting merrily and giggling with each other.

"Jess! Ellen! Over here!" Mandy exclaimed.

We quickly joined them. _It's gonna be tough telling them I'm leaving them soon, _I thought.

Jessica nudged me. "El, tell them," she hissed.

I wanted to tell the rest of my friends, but the words wouldn't come out.

"Tell us what?" Rachel, my best friend asked me, reaching out to touch my arm. I smiled at the gesture. Rachel has, like, human radar or something. She can read me like a book.

"Uh…Um…I…" I muttered.

"Spit it out, Ellen," Kimberly snapped. "We _do_ have to get going, you know."

I sighed.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Okay. I'll tell them," she replied. She turned to the rest of the Unicorns. "Ellen's moving to Stoneybrook, Connecticut," she announced.

Lila's mouth dropped open. "Moving? Ellen, are you _serious_?" she asked.

Rachel looked ready to cry. "Oh, no! Ellen, you _can't_ move!" she exclaimed.

"I know. I don't want to move, either, but my mom wants to," I said.

"What's Stoneybrook like?" Mandy asked. "Isn't Connecticut a New England state?" she asked.

I frowned. "Who cares? I don't wanna move!" I exclaimed.

Rachel put an arm around me. "Ellen, it'll be okay. Maybe moving won't be so bad. I'm sure Stoneybrook can't be bad."

I made a face. "There's no better place than Sweet Valley. Plus, it _snows_ in Connecticut. How am I gonna live without my shorts, tanks and flip flops?"

"You can always buy cute sweaters and stuff," Mandy suggested, giggling.

I rolled my eyes at her.

Kimberly looked thoughtful. "When are you leaving?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Probably in a week or so. Why?"

"Well, no offense, Ellen, but when you're gone, we'll need someone to keep up with the presidency of the club. We should probably re-elect someone after you're gone."

I felt like I'd been stabbed in the heart. Being president of the Unicorns was something I was extremely proud of. In SVMS, I was queen of the school. When I would move and go to another school, I'd be a normal kid with no special duties or honors and probably have to start over. That _totally_ scared me.

"Let's hold a Unicorn meeting right after school at Jessica's house," Kimberly added just after the bell rang.

Just then, everyone scattered into the building, leaving me standing there alone.

My friends didn't seem to be too concerned about me leaving. Didn't they care or were they too worried about becoming president of the club?

I drooped my head and headed into the building, not in a good mood.

Today was _not_ a good day.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**I'**ve been a member of the Unicorns for quite awhile. I find it a privilege and an honor to be part of the most popular group of girls in the entire school. We get more attention from boys about our looks, _everyone_ knows who we are and we set a good example of how unique we are.

I am also privileged to be around five other great girls who share the same in common with me. Kimberly, Mandy, Jessica, Lila and Rachel are my girls. I'd do anything for them and they'd do the same for me.

Although, I must admit something; Sometimes, we can be self-centered, shallow and downright mean, but we are all best friends, I swear! I guess even good friends can have a falling-out, right?

Anyway, like I said, there are five other girls in the club, plus myself. You already know that I'm the president of the club, but I wasn't always president.

The Unicorn Club was founded by ex-eighth grader, Janet Howell. Janet became president of the club when she founded it. The club used to be huge, with ten members or so. We had Belinda Layton, Tamara Chase, Grace Oliver and Mary Wallace among many others. But those girls are all gone. Janet left, too. When she graduated from SVMS, the role of president was carried on to Mandy. But when Mandy quit and joined the Angel Club for awhile, I stepped in as president.

Mandy eventually saw the light and rejoined the Unicorns. We are sooo glad to have her back now.

The Unicorns wear anything with the color purple. Just another way to show how special we are. Purple is the color of royalty, so we try to show that everyday.

Our meetings derive of gossip, music and food. We chatter nonstop about everything and everyone. From Johnny Buck's latest killer music video to how good Bruce Patman looked in his crisp, white Polo shirt.

But we still talk about serious stuff, don't get me wrong, but we try to make our meetings fun as possible.

Most of the time, we hold our meetings at Lila's house because she's got the biggest room. Lila is super rich, so she's popular at SVMS for holding the most spectacular parties and best slumber parties in her room. Her father spoils her like crazy.

Like my parents, Lila's mom and dad are divorced, too. Lila's mom left them when Lila was little and she hasn't seen her since. Her dad became so bummed out about losing his wife, he just buried himself in his work and gives Lila whatever she wants.

Rachel is rich, too. She's not as spoiled as Lila is, though. Rachel and I have so much in common, it's crazy. We both share the same tastes in clothes (Tanks, thank you very much), guys, food…the list goes on. Rachel is just a wonderful person. She's funny, smart and very, very, _very_ cool.

Mandy is…well…Mandy. Mandy's very artistic and funky. She loves hip fashion and mixing different styles together to create a slammin' look. She's the only one who comes to school wearing pink knee socks, white platform Mary Jane shoes, a pink, old-fashioned baby-doll dress, glitter on her face and hair and her hair in pigtails tied with white ribbons. I mean, I don't think I could pull that off, but Mandy can and she does.

Mandy lives with her parents, her older sister, Cecilia and her little brother, Archie (Who is so adorable, by the way).

You already know about Jessica. Blonde hair, blue-green eyes and an identical twin named Elizabeth who a member of the Angels, the dorkiest club in the history of America. Jessica is absolutely cool. If there's one great thing I can say about Jessica, it's that she loves to have fun. Jessica loves parties, fashion, boys, makeup, cheerleading and shopping among other stuff. She's a very girly person. Elizabeth is pretty, too, but she sometimes doesn't show it. She dresses in jeans and puts her hair in a ponytail. She loves reading, writing and hanging with her dorky friends in the Angels.

Elizabeth used to be a member of the Unicorns, but she left when she found the club to be very boring, in her opinion. The Unicorns have still wondered to this day just what is _so _boring about our club. _We_ personally think the Angels are boring.

Kimberly Haver is the athletic one in the club. Kimberly loves sports, especially soccer and track. Kimberly was once a member of the track team here and received good marks. She's incredibly fast and can become very competitive. She's also loud and bossy, so she's definitely picked up where Janet left off (When Janet was president, she was super bossy). Kimberly is an only child. She has long brown hair and brown eyes.

My friends are the coolest. I couldn't imagine even being apart from them even for a whole year.

"Ellen, are you there? Earth to Ellen, come in please," Mandy teased, waving her hand in front of my face.

I blinked, snapping out of my daydream I was having about leaving Sweet Valley. It seemed to me that everybody I'd grown close to didn't care that I was leaving them. It scared me.

We were all in Jessica's room, holding a Unicorn meeting, but I hadn't really been paying that much attention.

Everyone laughed when I blinked. I've been known to be a major space cadet.

"Now that you've come back to the planet, Ellen, we need to come up with a plan on your presidency once you've left. What do you think?" Kimberly asked.

I shrugged. "I haven't really thought about it," I admitted.

"Haven't thought about it? Why not?" Kimberly demanded.

"I don't know."

Kimberly blew out her breath in frustration.

It was quiet for a moment.

"Well, I think Ellen should re-elect Mandy," Rachel replied.

Mandy shook her head. "No, thanks. I don't think I want to be president again," she replied. "I think Kimberly should be president. She's got great leader skills."

Kimberly beamed. "Thanks, Mandy," she said flatteringly. "Anyone else?"

"_I_ should be president. After all, Janet is _my_ cousin. Her skills have been passed on to me," Lila argued.

Jessica shook her head in disapproval. "I'm the beacon of fun in this club. It's pretty clear who should lead this club and that's _moi_."

Lila snorted. "That's a huge AS IF," she snapped. "I'm the only one even capable of being president of this club. No ands, ifs or buts about it."

That did it. Pure pandemonium. Everyone was yelling and shouting at one another. I couldn't believe everyone was arguing over being president!

It hurt my feelings that everyone was more worried about that than me moving to another town. If I moved, I'd probably never see any of them again, but they were more worried about the presidency of the Unicorns.

I was getting angry. My friends were acting completely silly and foolish over something so stupid.

Before I knew it, my anger let loose.

"STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" I screamed.

Everyone stopped midsentence and looked at me dumbfound.

"This is so ridiculous. Why are you guys fighting? You guys are acting like a bunch of stupid babies and I'm tired of it. You're more interested in being the stupid president of this club more so than me. I'm moving three thousand miles away and I may never see you guys again, but now I don't care if I do! You all are so self-centered! I never want to see any of you again!"

And with that, I ran. I ran past Elizabeth's room, down the stairs and out the door. I ran all the way home and just slipped into bed, crying my eyes out.

There was a knock at my door. "Ellen? Sweetheart, are you alright? Can I come in?" Mom asked.

"Come in," I replied.

Mom opened the door and walked into my room. "Honey, Rachel called. She wants to let you know she's sorry," she said.

I gulped down a sob, but didn't answer.

Mom walked over to my bed and put her hand on my head. "Honey, tell me what's the matter," she replied.

"I'm fine, Mom," I lied. I wasn't ready to tell her anything.

Mom sighed. "If this is about moving away, I understand," she said.

I fought the attempt to roll my eyes. How could she understand anything I was going through? She hadn't moved three thousand away from everything and everyone she knew. But I knew one thing: I wasn't 100 percent sure I knew why Mom and Dad were fighting and why we were leaving.

"Why are we leaving? What did you and Dad do wrong?" I asked.

Mom sighed again. "We stopped loving one another," she answered. "I mean, at first, we did love each other. We had a family, both worked in wonderful jobs and had everyone who cared for us, but clearly, it wasn't enough. You've heard us fight, haven't you?"

I nodded miserably. My parents were always fighting over dumb stuff like money, furniture, important valuables and other stuff I can't remember.

The next thing I knew, Dad told her he wanted out. Two weeks later, he moved out to an apartment in downtown Sweet Valley. According to Mom, the two of them have already worked out a custody agreement. It seems Mom has full custody of us.

"Ellen, dear. I need your opinion. How do you feel about moving?"

I bit my lip. "You know I hate it," I answered honestly.

Mom nodded. "I understand, honey. I know moving away from all you know is hard, but it's all part of moving on, both physically and mentally. I talked to your sister and brother, too. They hate it as well, so you're not alone. What else are you thinking about?"

I looked at her in astonishment. My mom also has radar detection like Rachel. I didn't even tell her all that was bothering me, yet she somehow sensed it!

"Does this have anything to do with Rachel calling?" Mom pushed.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, I guess," I said.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever it is, I hope you all make amends. We'll be leaving Sweet Valley soon and you don't want to start off on the wrong foot with them, do you?"

"Of course not," I said.

Mom smiled. "Stoneybrook is really a nice town. You might make some new friends there." She rubbed my shoulder affectively.

I grimaced at the thought of Connecticut kids. They didn't look half as cool as Southern California kids. There probably weren't any cool kids around in Connecticut.

I put my head in my pillow and moaned. _Life isn't fair_, I thought sadly.

Mom got up from the bed. "Dinner will ready soon, dear," she said.

I mumbled an OK before Mom went back downstairs.

After she left, I picked up my diary.

* * *

_Tuesday evening, before dinner_

_Man, I am soooooooooo bummed! My so-called best friends are more worried about who gets to be president than me leaving them. What's the deal with that? Were they always this self-absorbed or is this a new thing?_

_Plus, we're moving, but I think you already knew that. Tomorrow, I think I'm going to visit Dad inside his new apartment. I** seriously** need to talk to him. Perhaps I can talk him into letting me stay with him in Sweet Valley. I don't want to move to Connecticut._

_AT ALL._

_With Love, Ellen_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**I** managed to survive the whole day without talking to any of my friends. After school, I walked to the nearest bus stop that would take me to the other side of town.

My dad lives in a very upscale apartment. He works for a very popular toy company called IntelligentKidZ. They make all kinds of cool, educational toys for kids of all ages.

My dad was busy with his job for as long as I could remember. When I was a kid, I didn't mind. I could play with as many toys as I wanted and I got all of them for free.

However, when I got older, I outgrew those toys. All I wanted then was my dad. He was so busy, he was always coming home really late, not really having enough time to eat dinner or talk to us kids about school. He was late for Sara's spelling bee or my dance recitals or Mark's basketball games.

Pretty soon, Mom and Dad started arguing about all kinds of stuff. Money, the house…even us.

I couldn't really understand what Sara, Mark and I had to do with their arguing.

Mom and Dad tried marriage counseling and all that stuff, but it only seemed to make it worse. Their counselor suggested one thing: Get a divorce.

So they did. Three weeks later, Dad packed up and moved away. But not before another argument with Mom. They argued over this old grandfather clock some old friends gave to them as a wedding gift.

"Veronica is _my_ best friend! So therefore, this clock belongs to me!" Mom snapped.

"But Jonathan is also a friend of mine!" Dad snapped back.

"But Veronica paid for it! Jonathan didn't!"

In the end, Mom won. Dad got to keep half of the kitchen appliances, the couch, half of the stuff in their old bedroom and the Oriental rug that belonged to my grandmother on Dad's side.

It was a _very_ stressful day.

I rang the apartment buzzer to Apt #25 on Sweet Valley Ave in Downtown Sweet Valley, the busiest area in town.

A loud, crackly noise filled my ear. "Who is it?" The voice asked.

It was my dad.

"It's me, Dad. Ellen," I replied.

He buzzed me in and I opened the door.

The lobby inside was nearly empty. The lobby was a dimly lit place with tan walls, shiny woodwork and a plush tan carpet. At the desk, there sat an old woman reading a _Cosmopolitan _magazine.

I went up to the desk. "Hello? Excuse me?" I asked.

The old woman looked up from her magazine, looking at me critically.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"My name is Ellen. Can you tell me what floor is Apt. #25 is on? I'm visiting my father."

"It's on the 4th floor, sweetheart."

I quickly thanked her and ran to the elevator behind her desk.

I pushed the 'Up' button and when the doors opened, I ducked inside.

Once inside, I pushed the 4th floor button. The doors closed and up I went.

After I came out, I walked down the hall, looking for my dad's apartment.

I didn't have to look far, though, because Dad had opened his door and called out my name.

"Ellen, come on in," he called.

I smiled and followed him inside the apartment.

Dad's new pad was pretty cool-looking. It was really big and it had awesome furniture. The floor had a black carpet. All the walls were white. He had a glass table in front of the living room. And he had a glass mantelpiece over a gorgeous fireplace.

The mantelpiece had photos all around it.

I peered to get a better look at the pics. They were all pictures of us with Dad.

Pictures of Dad with Sara, Mark and me; some with one of us with Dad and some with just a single picture of us kids. There was even a picture of me as a kindergartner on School Picture Day at Sweet Valley Elementary.

I nearly cried.

Dad stroked my hair. "You okay, honey?" he asked.

"Dad, you really _do_ love us!" I managed to gasp out.

Dad looked astonished. "Well, of course I do! What made you think I didn't?" he asked.

"Well, why are you and Mom divorcing? Does it have anything to do with us?"

Dad gave a puzzled look. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, you and Mom were always arguing about something. And one day, you started arguing about us. Sara, Mark and I. I mean, do you think we don't love you guys the same way or something? Do you think I don't love you just as much as Mom does?"

I just started speaking about what I had been thinking about for awhile and I was finally letting my dad know how I felt.

"I don't want to move," I continued. "I still don't know why we're moving. I don't want to leave Sweet Valley and I don't want us to split apart. I want…I don't know what I want. I just don't want you guys to divorce."

Tears of frustration and anger poured down my cheeks. "Dad, I don't understand. What problems were you having with Mom that you couldn't fix? Why did you have to listen to that stupid marriage councilor? Why did you guys just decide things without discussing things with us first?"

Dad rubbed my shoulder. "Honey, I'm sorry about everything. You're right. Your mom and I should have talked to you and your siblings before we went through with this, but…"

"But what?" I asked.

"We were having some irreconcilable differences we just couldn't work out with one another, but you're right. We should have spoken to you guys first. There's no excuse about that. But if it makes you feel any better, I'll take all the blame for it. I apologize, sweetheart."

I wiped my eyes on my shirtsleeve. "Okay. I guess that's as good as it's gonna get," I replied.

Dad grimaced. "I'm sorry, Ellen," he said.

"We still have to move, though," I said, frowning.

Dad put his arm around me. "Honey, I understand you're upset about leaving Sweet Valley because the town is pretty much all you've ever known. But look at it as moving on and growing up. You'll be in a new place, in a new surrounding. You'll be around people you don't know and places you've never been to or even seen before. But look at it as a blessing in disguise. Everything happens for a reason. Perhaps you'll find something in the new place you're moving to that you didn't have here in Sweet Valley."

"Like what?" I asked.

Dad shook his head. "I don't know, sweetheart. But I do know this. Wherever you are and wherever you go, you just remember that I'll still be here. I'll miss you and Sara and Mark a lot. I want to make sure we get in plenty of visits and letters and phone calls, okay?"

I nodded, feeling a little better. "Okay, Dad," I said.

Dad kissed my cheek. "Love you, Pooshie," he said, using his pet name for me when I was little.

"Dad-aaaaaad!" I exclaimed.

Dad smirked. "When are you leaving?" he asked me.

"Mom found a house already, so we'll probably be leaving sometime next week," I said.

"Why?"

"I'm planning on dropping by to say good-bye to you, Sara and Mark before you go."

I smiled. "That'd be great!" I exclaimed.

Dad rumpled my hair. "Call me when you all leave," he said.

I got up to leave. "Okay. Thanks, Dad. Love you!"

We hugged tightly and I opened the door, feeling extremely happy.

The happiness went away slightly, thinking about my Unicorn friends and an upcoming talk with Mom. The happiness suddenly deflated like a balloon.

_Wednesday afternoon, on the bus back home_

_Diary, you know how I'm feeling right now? Absolutely, totally, 100 percent bummed right now! I'm so tired of being bummed and I bet you're tired of hearing how bummed I am, but I really need to mend things up with The Unicorns and I need to talk to Mom. If I gonna Sweet Valley forever, I at least need to smooth things over, right? I'm ready to move on, just like Dad said. If I want to be grown-up, I need to feel grown-up. So I guess I'm ready to move to Stoneybrook, no matter dorky the name of the town sounds_.

_With Love, Ellen_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**"E**llen, talk to me._ Please_?"

That was Rachel, begging me to talk to her. I was walking down the hall towards the cafeteria at lunchtime.

I had managed to ignore The Unicorns the whole day, without talking or speaking to any of them once. Not once.

I know I had promised my diary I would talk to them, but I was still so mad. Plus, I wasn't even sure if they would even listen to me.

And now, here was Rachel following me down the school hallway into the cafeteria.

"Ellen, stop! I want to talk to you!" Rachel called out.

I ignored her.

All of a sudden, Rachel tugged at my arm.

"Ellen, please. You gotta listen to me, okay. Please, hear me out."

I rolled my eyes. "Do I have to?" I asked.

Rachel nodded. "El, I just want you to know that you to know that we're all sorry for how we've made you feel. We feel very, very, _very_ awful."

I didn't feel too convinced.

"Well, why did you send you to apologize? Why are only you apologizing?" I asked.

"I guess because I'm your best friend? Best friends are supposed to apologize first, right?"

I guess she had a point.

"Yeah. I guess so," I said.

"Well, I never wanted to be president, anyway. And neither does Mandy, but I guess we all got carried away with the presidency, I guess we sort-of-forgot you'd be leaving us. I'm sorry, Ellen. I don't want you to go! I'm gonna miss you so much!"

"I know! I'm gonna miss you, too!" I exclaimed.

Rachel looked at the floor. "Are we still friends?" she asked, a little uncertainly in her voice.

"You kidding? Of course! And we're not friends – we're _best_ friends!"

Rachel beamed. "You're such the coolest!" she said, throwing her arm around me.

"Wait! I gotta do something," I said.

"What?"

I opened up my bag and pulled out my pen and diary and began a fresh page:

_Thursday morning at school at lunchtime_

_Diary, it might interest you to know that Rachel and I have finally apologized and we're best friends again! Now I just gotta hear what Jessica, Lila, Kimberly and Mandy have to say to me. _

_With Love, Ellen_

Rachel added: _**And if they aren't nice to her, they'll have to answer to **me**! LIJ (Little Inside Joke!)**_

_**Ciao, Rachel**_

The two of us went to the cafeteria with our lunches and sat down at the Unicorner, the lunch table reserved only for the club.

When everyone arrived, they looked surprised to see me sitting with Rachel.

"Ellen! What are you doing here? You aren't still mad at us, are you?" Kimberly asked.

Rachel nudged me to speak up. I cleared my throat.

"No. Not as much as I was, but I do have a few things I want to say to you guys."

Everyone sat down immediately.

I cleared my throat again and began our impromptu Unicorn meeting.

"Well, I'm sure you guys have heard from non-Unicorns about how mean, shallow, selfish and self-absorbed we are, right?"

Jessica nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think we are." She then looked around at the other members of the club, looking unsure. "Are we?"

I gulped.

"Yeah. I think we are, but I never thought about how it would affect one of us if someone else in the club treated us badly or whatever. I told you guys I was moving away, but it seems everyone is more interested in being president of the club. I mean, isn't our friendship more important than being president of the club?"

Mandy reached out to take my hand. "Ellen, we're sorry. We all felt guilty about the whole thing after you left. We weren't really thinking at all."

Lila reached to take my hand as well. "You're totally right, El. The presidency of the club is the least important thing right now. You're important to us, Ellen."

I beamed. "Really?" I asked, feeling a little flabbergasted.

Kimberly nodded. "Yeah. You are. Although, you can be a ditz sometimes. And you can be a little annoying, but we love you, believe it or not."

"What about the presidency? Who's gonna take care of it?" I asked.

Jessica shrugged. "We didn't decide anything yet. We figured there were more important things to worry about."

"Like what?" I asked, a little skeptically.

Jessica shrugged again. "You'll see," she answered matter-of-factly.

I looked to Rachel for conformation, but she didn't say anything. Something was up, but I decided not to question it.

"So, I guess this means we're cool then?" I asked.

Lila rolled her eyes. "No, Ellen…Of course we're cool!" she said, wrapping her arms around me.

The other girls followed suit.

We must have made a big spectacle that day in the cafeteria, with all those other kids looking at us, but we didn't care. We were all caught up in the moment with finally forgiving each other and being friends again.

The Unicorns were going to the local ice cream parlor at Sweet Valley Mall, but I couldn't go unfortunately. There was something I had to take care of at home.

"We'll save you a Brownie Explosion," Rachel joked.

We laughed.

"I'll see you guys later," I said before walking our separate ways.

When I finally made it home, I went through the back door of the house into the kitchen.

Mom and Sara were sitting in the kitchen around the kitchen table.

"Ellen, you're here early today," Mom said, a little surprisingly.

"Yeah. No Unicorn meeting or something?" Sara wanted to know.

"Nope, not today," I lied. "Mom, I need to talk to you," I added, looking directly at her importantly. "_Alone_," I said sternly, stressing the word. Sara was still sitting up, looking interested.

Mom nodded. "Okay. Sara, I'll talk to you later. Finish your homework upstairs."

Sara rolled her eyes, got up from her chair, picked up her stuff and went upstairs to her room.

I sat in Sara's chair, right next to Mom.

"Now, what's on your mind, dear?" Mom asked.

"I'm not so mad about moving away anymore," I told her.

"You want to leave? I thought you wanted to stay in Sweet Valley," Mom replied, looking confused.

"I do want to stay, but…I want to be mature about this. I'm ready to move on and explore new things. I understand that you weren't really happy here and I was being selfish. So I just want you to be happy."

Mom put her hand over mine. "Dear, I appreciate what you're doing, but you don't have to move away from here just to make me happy. I've been thinking about what you said the other day. I should have talked to you and the others about what was happening, but I was so unhappy, I wasn't even thinking straight. And for that, I'm sorry. You don't have to move if you don't want to. You can stay here in Sweet Valley with your father if you like. I only want _you_ to be happy, so make the decision you think is right. Whatever you decide, will be fine with me. I'll still love you no matter what. Okay?"

I nodded. "Okay," I answered.

Mom kissed my cheek. "Good. Love you," she said.

I nodded. "Me, too," I answered. I got up from the table and went into my bedroom to do my homework.

But I couldn't really concentrate on it. Instead, I picked up my diary and started writing:

_Thursday afternoon, after school_

_Diary, I have to now decide where I want to live. Stoneybrook or Sweet Valley? Sweet Valley or Stoneybrook? I don't know how to choose. This is **so** hard. _

_With Love, Ellen_

I scribbled out a list of pros and cons:

_**Sweet Valley:** Living with Dad in his apartment downtown; Lila, Rachel, Jessica, Kimberly, Mandy, and Kimberly; Being a Unicorn and president, cute boys (especially Bruce Patman), SVMS, ice cream parlor (Brownie Explosions!), Sweet Valley Mall (especially Valley Fashions), tank tops_

_**Stoneybrook:** Living with Mom, Sara and Mark in a house; unknown people, no Unicorns and no presidency of any club, no Bruce Patman, some school I've never even heard of, no hangouts with Brownie Explosions, drippy mall with no Valley Fashions, _

_No tank tops._

I looked over at my list a _long_ time. After about nearly an hour, It was clearly obvious that Sweet Valley was going to be the winner, but for some reason, I had this nagging feeling not to choose it.

My gut was quaking. I had to listen to my gut.

I couldn't believe I was even going through with it; I was going to Stoneybrook.

_Diary, I've made my decision. Are you ready? I'm moving to Stoneybrook with Mom, Sara and Mark. You may be wondering why I decided to move there after the way I was whining to you about not wanting to leave Sweet Valley._

_Well, I remember what Dad told me: **"But look at it as moving on and growing up. You'll be in a new place, in a new surrounding. You'll be around people you don't know and places you've never been to or even seen before. But look at it as a blessing in disguise. Everything happens for a reason. Perhaps you'll find something in the new place you're moving to that you didn't have here in Sweet Valley."**_

_You know what that means? It basically means that I need to experience new things and meet new people. That way, I'll grow and become much more mature. I know Sweet Valley is my home, but I need to see the rest of the world out there, so therefore, I have to move. Like Dad said, there might be something waiting for me there. I also don't want to leave Mom. Mom is possibly the most awesome mother in the world. I don't know what I'd do without her or my siblings._

_Plus, I don't think I think I could stay with Dad in his cramped apartment. His pad is cool, but I think it's too small for me to live in with him. I only hope I can start a new life as a gulp Connecticut girl!_

_With Love, Ellen_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"**E**llen, I hear you're moving?"

I was sitting with Rachel and Mandy in the library. The three of us were poring over our history textbooks, cramming for a history quiz for the next period.

The voice belonged to Bruce Patman, of all guys. I felt somewhat flattered that he was talking to me. Rachel and Mandy were both squealing like a bunch of little schoolgirls.

I tried to look calm, cool and collected. "Yep, I am," I said nonchalantly.

Bruce scrunched up his nose. "Yeah, I heard you're moving to a small town," he said.

I gave him a confused look.

"Small towns are gross. They have nothing in them except farms and small-town gossip."

"Farms? You mean, with pigs, cows and other dirty stuff?" I asked, looking absolutely horrified.

Bruce nodded. "Are you sure you still want to go?" he asked.

I scrunched my nose up at the sight of me getting my hands dirty holding up a farm animal. But then again, I chose to move. I'd made my decision and nothing was going to make me change my mind.

"I'm going," I told him.

Bruce shook his head. "Too bad," he replied. "You'll be missing out on California life. Connecticut is full of farms, dirt roads, wilderness and snow. Good luck out there, Riteman. You'll need it." He turned back to his book, chuckling.

I turned to Rachel and Mandy, who had since stopped squealing.

"What a _jerk_," Mandy muttered angrily. "What does _he_ know about Connecticut?"

"I'm sorry we _ever_ thought he was cute," Rachel added.

"Stoneybrook can't be what he thinks it is. Has he even been there before?" I asked.

"Possibly not. I bet he's never even been to the East Coast," Mandy said.

"Well, who cares if he has or not? We have more important things to worry about," Rachel replied. "El's leaving in…when are you leaving, anyway?"

"On Sunday," I told her. "Sunday evening."

"Okay. And today is Friday. We _have _to do something for you, Ellen."

"Something like what?" I asked.

Mandy's face lit up. "Omigod!" she exclaimed.

"What? What?" I said, looking just as excited as Mandy was.

Mandy shook her head. "Never mind," she said.

I frowned, but didn't push the matter any further.

"This is my last day here at SVMS," I muttered, burying my head inside Rachel's shoulder. "I can't believe it."

_Friday afternoon, after school_

_Diary, my friends are up to something. I can feel it! I wonder what it is…_

_My last day at SVMS was fun, but sad at the same time. I had to say good-bye to all of the people who my years there very awesome. Then the Unicorns and I went to the mall to shop and spend one last day at the ice cream parlor (My last Brownie Explosion!). _

_All in all, I had fun. And guess what? I got a B- on my history quiz! All that cramming in the library paid off! The Unicorns are sleeping over at my house tonight and I'm the hostess! 'Till later!_

_With Love, Ellen_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

_Saturday evening, after dinner_

_Okay, we're almost done packing. The movers are shipping all of our stuff on an airplane to Connecticut, so most of our stuff is gone. My bed and everything in here are gone, too. So I'm sleeping in a sleeping bag (yuck). All of my friends are gone, too._

_Rachel was the last one to leave because she was helping me pack. We had fun tossing everything into boxes and then bringing them downstairs in the middle of the living room for the movers to take._

_Diary, my house looks so different now. I can't believe I'll be leaving it behind. I mean, I grew up in this house._

_Sigh. I seriously need to get a grip._

_With Love, Ellen_

"**E**llen, can you pass me that empty box over there?" Mom asked me.

Mom, Sara, Mark, Rachel and I were in Mark's messy bedroom, putting all of his stuff into cartons.

I handed it to her.

"Thanks," she said. She pulled a black Sharpie marker out of her pocket and marked it "Mark's Toys" and set it down on the floor.

"Okay, Mark. Put all of your toys in there," she ordered.

Mark groaned, but immediately went to work stuffing all of his toys into the large brown box.

"Sara, have you finished packing up all of your things?" Mom asked.

Sara nodded. "Yes, Mom. Now, will you chill out?"

"I just want to make sure everything will be order before the movers get here. They'll be here tomorrow and I just want to—"

"Mom, don't worry. We're way ahead of you. We packed everything and we mean _everything_," I added.

"I'll double-check," Rachel replied.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, giving her a confused look.

She tugged at my shirtsleeve.

The two of us went downstairs inside the now empty kitchen.

"What is it?" I questioned.

Rachel sighed. "I want to give you something, El," she said. "I mean, I wanted to give this to you when I had the chance to see you alone. Anyway, this is for you."

She went into her pocket and handed me a small purple box.

When I opened it, I gasped. It was a tiny Unicorn locket.

"Rach, this is…this is…" I was speechless. I couldn't find the right word to describe how I was feeling.

"Open it," Rachel told me, smiling.

I did as she told me. Inside, was a picture of Rachel and me at a dance four months ago.

"Rachel, wow. This is…"

Tears began to flow freely down my cheeks. I threw my arms around her.

"Thanks," I said.

"Don't mention. Thanks for being the first friend I made when _I_ moved to Sweet Valley. I'm soooo gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you," I said.

"No, I'm gonna miss you even more," she argued.

"Rachel, shut up," I said, giggling.

The two of us laughed.

After Rachel helped me attach the locket around my neck, the two of us went back to help the others.

It was 10:45 at night before we were finished packing. Mom offered to drop Rachel off at her house. Mark went with them.

Meanwhile, Sara was on the phone, chatting to her best friend, Charlotte Kennedy, from Sweet Valley High.

I was in my room, looking out the window.

I was going to miss looking out of my window.

I sighed. Was there anything I wasn't going to miss about Sweet Valley?

Before long, I had fallen asleep.

The next morning, I awoke very groggily. My left shoulder hurt from sleeping on the floor and I was hungry.

However, the words MOVING DAY! flashed through my head.

Sara rushed into my room. "Wake up, Ellen! We have to be out of here at noon!" she exclaimed.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"9:56," she answered. "Now, would you get a move on?"

I went into the bathroom to shower and brush my teeth. I took a ten minute shower and quickly brushed my teeth. I changed into an outfit I had placed the night before: My white leggings, my favorite Johnny Buck T-shirt, a black mini-skirt, a pair of black socks and my shiny white flats. I brushed my hair and put on a little lip-gloss and mascara.

I picked up my little round bag and put my diary and other small items inside of it.

I put the bag on my shoulders and went into the kitchen.

As soon as I went downstairs, I was welcomed with a big "SURRRRRRRRRRPRISE!" from all of my Unicorn friends, including Elizabeth.

My mouth dropped a mile.

"Surprise, Ellen. You like your surprise?" Jessica asked me.

"Like it? I_ love_ it! You guys did all of this for me?" I asked, still in shock.

"Well, _duh_, Ellen. This is your last day in Sweet Valley, so we wanted it to be special," Lila replied.

"Yeah. Lila bought breakfast stuff! We've got croissants, fruit and juice. Let's eat and then…" Mandy added, trailing off.

"We've all got something for you after we eat," Elizabeth replied.

I smiled, wondering what Elizabeth Wakefield could give me. The two of us aren't really the best friends.

I didn't answer. I just helped myself to a croissant, a slice of grapefruit and some "freshly squeezed orange juice", according to Lila.

After we all ate, Kimberly stood in the center of the kitchen.

"Ellen, we all have something to give to you before you leave," she replied.

She walked over to a medium-sized box that was sitting by the back door. She bent over to it and pulled out a small blanket.

The blanket was purple and had lace embroidered all along the edges.

"Look, Ellen. This blanket has all our names sewn into it and all the little unicorns sewn into it, too so you can never forget about us while you're in…where is the place again?" Lila asked.

"Stoneybrook," I answered, smiling in awe at the beautiful blanket.

"Guys, this is beautiful," I said breathlessly.

Elizabeth stepped forward. "Ellen, this is for you from me. I know we aren't really close, but when I heard you were moving away, I wanted to give you something. But anyway, this is for you," she replied.

She handed me a smaller package. I opened it cautiously (I know, but Elizabeth and I aren't really the best of friends. Why is she suddenly being so nice to me?)

When I opened it, I found a white homemade bracelet and a note. I picked up the note and read it aloud:

**Ellen – **

**I know we haven't always seen eye to eye. However, I've always thought you were cool and everything. Since I probably won't see you again, on behalf the rest of the Angel Club, we would all like to call a truce. Please accept this bracelet as a token of patching up the rocky relationship between the Unicorns and the Angels.**

**Good luck with your big move! **

**Elizabeth**

I beamed. "Cool bracelet, Liz. Thanks," I said.

"So does this mean…" she asked cautiously.

"Yep. We're, um, trucing," I said, not even sure if "trucing" was a word.

Elizabeth grinned. "Good," she said. "If you ever decide to write letters to your friends, I'll be sure to ask Jessica. I'd like to know what Stoneybrook's like. You know, small-town life in a small New England town. That might be something I'd like to write about."

"Yeah, like I'm gonna remember _everything_, Lizzie," Jessica said, rolling her eyes.

We all laughed.

I put the bracelet on and put Elizabeth's note in my bag.

"One more thing," Jessica announced.

She went back to the box and took out something else. It was a lot smaller than the blanket, however.

She handed it to me.

I unwrapped it…it was a picture of me with my friends at one of Lila's parties. The picture frame was a shiny Oak. It was painted purple, of course, with golden Unicorns at the borders of the frame. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

"Omigosh! Guys, this is…this is…"

"A work of art? I agree, because I made it," Mandy boasted.

"Yeah, but we helped!" Kimberly retorted.

"I don't care _who_ made it! It's still incredible. I can't believe all of you worked on these special projects for me!" I exclaimed.

"We love you, Ellen," Rachel replied. "That's why we gave you all this stuff."

I beamed with happiness. "Wow," was I could say.

"Group hug!" Jessica yelled.

All of the Unicorns, including Elizabeth, started hugging me.

Suddenly, we all fell on the floor, giggling.

"You guys are so silly," Sara replied, rolling her eyes.

We ignored her.

"I'm gonna miss you guys so much!" I replied, wiping tears from my eyes after all of us had gotten up off the floor.

"We'll miss you, too, El," Rachel said.

"Who's gonna be president of the club?" I asked.

"Well, after a lot of discussion, we decided that the president would be…Rachel," Lila replied.

I turned to my best friend in sheer happiness and shock.

"You? But I thought you said….you didn't want to be president!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, but the guys all decided that the person in charge of the club should be the ex-president's best friend."

"Plus, Rachel's got a good heart. She knows what good for the club," Jessica said.

"Well…congratulations, Rach! I'm happy for you!" I replied.

The tears started to flow again.

"Oh, you're such a crybaby, Ellen," Kimberly replied, rolling her eyes.

Without a moment's hesitation, Kimberly started crying, too. Then all the others started crying.

As we cried, I had a sudden urge not to leave Sweet Valley.

_Oh, I love you guys_, I thought sadly.

The movers came right on time. When the last box had been put into the truck, we all knew it was time to say good-bye. All of my friends hugged me tightly.

"Make sure you visit, Ellen," Mandy replied.

"Yeah, you'd better or…" Kimberly added, pausing to think of what to say next.

"Or we'll hunt you down and torture you!" Lila put in.

"Oh, I'll visit you guys. You guys had better visit, too," I said.

At that moment, I heard my mom call me. "Ellen? Honey, it's time to go," she said.

I frowned. "Okay, Mom. Give me one more minute!" I called back.

My friends and I gave each other one last group hug.

"Unicorns forever!" I yelled.

We broke the hug.

I sighed and picked up my bag and headed for the airport shuttle van that was parked outside my old house.

My Unicorn friends waved good-bye to me sadly. I waved back.

I stepped in and continued waving good-bye until the van drove off down the street. My friends suddenly became tiny specks and only grew even more tinier with each passing movement of the van.

As we drove towards the airport, it suddenly dawned on me that my father never stopped by to say good-bye. I wondered why, but I didn't think about it any further.

My old life was over, but my new one was just beginning.

_Good-bye, Sweet Valley; Hello, Stoneybrook_, I thought.

_Friday afternoon, on the plane_

_Diary, I'm on an airplane with my family. We're heading to an airport in Stamford, Connecticut. Mom says Stoneybrook is too small to have an actual airport, so that's why we're flying directly to Stamford. _

_We're flying right over Colorado right now. The view looks awesome! There's mountains everywhere and the sky is so incredibly blue. _

_Diary, I don't think I've ever been to the East Coast before. Do you think the people there will treat me differently or something? I'm just really nervous, so that's why I'm starting to ramble. _

_Okay, I won't ramble until we actually get to Stoneybrook. See ya!_

_With Love, Ellen_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

_Friday evening, on the shuttle van to Stoneybrook_

_Diary, we are officially in Connecticut! Mark, Sara, Mom and I are in the airport van heading to Stoneybrook. The airplane ride only took about three hours tops. Now we are on the highway in Connecticut, heading to Stoneybrook._

_The view here looks so different than California. For one thing, there are no palm trees. In Sweet Valley, we had a lot of them. Plus, there are fields sprawled everywhere with absolutely nothing to look at. So far, Connecticut looks incredibly boring._

_I'll give you an update later when there's more to talk about._

_With Love, Ellen_

"**W**e're here!" Mom replied.

Sara was sleeping. She awoke with a start. "Huh?" she asked, groggily.

"We're here _already_?" Mark asked incredulously.

"Yep. We're on our new street right now. We should be coming up to our house in a sec."

A minute later, the van slowed to a start in front of our house. Our new house looked exactly the way it did in the picture we saw: White with brown shutters and a small front yard.

"Welcome to 21 Lakeland Street!" Mom sang happily.

The movers had our stuff flown out in record time. All of it was in our front yard. They got to work lifting everything into the house.

"Well, don't just stand there! Let's go inside!" Mom replied.

The four of us ran inside the open door into our new house.

Well, here's a map of our house in my eyes:

When you open the door, the first thing you see is a long hallway that stops into the kitchen, which is a normal-sized kitchen. The kitchen has white cabinets, a white linoleum floor and tiles on the wall by the kitchen sink. The kitchen also has a big refrigerator and a dishwasher. Right next to the kitchen opening, is a door leading to the basement. There's also a back door with small square windows leading to a backyard with grass and a huge oak tree. There's a small driveway with a garage.

If you turn back around and were heading for the front door, you'd pass the living room, which is pretty big. The living room has a tan carpet and a nice fireplace and mantelpiece. There are three large windows, which is cool. Connected to the living room, is the dining room. The dining room is small. It's got a chandelier, though. The dining room is connected to the kitchen. There's a small room next to it. I guess that room is the guest room because the room is very small and it's got a half bathroom in there.

Across from the living room opening, is the stairway leading to the rest of the rooms up stairs.

There are four bedrooms; a master bedroom with a bathroom and three other rooms. A small hallway leads into all these rooms, including a medium-sized bathroom.

I quickly claimed the bedroom in the middle. It was just the right size for me; not too big and not too small. My bedroom's window looked into another person's window, but if I turned my head a little, I could see my street.

My new room looked okay, but I figured it could use some paint and decorations.

When I was twelve, my parents let me decorate my old room with rainbows. It looked cool. The walls in Jessica's room were painted purple.

I wanted to do that, just to remind myself of how loyal I was to being a Unicorn.

"Yeah, I guess I could do that," I said to myself.

"Ellen! There are some neighbors of ours that want to say hello!" Sara called out.

It was 8:54 at night. Who would possibly come this late?

We were half done packing our stuff when I went downstairs. Our living room was slowly but surely looking like a living room.

When I went downstairs, the couch was already in there along with all our other stuff. Mom was sitting on it along with Sara, Mark and two other people I didn't know. The first person was a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length blond hair. The other was a younger version of her. She was taller than the woman, though. Both of them were wearing sophisticated-looking outfits. The girl was wearing a black sweater, white leggings and black cowboy boots. Her hair was in a white headband and she had tiny black studs in her ears, plus she looked to be my age.

"Oh, Ellen. We have some new neighbors I'd like you to meet," Mom replied the second I got down.

The blond woman got up and shook my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ellen. My name is Maureen McGill and this is my daughter, Anastasia."

"_Stacey_, Mom," the girl corrected, rolling her eyes. "My name is Stacey."

She reached over to shake my hand. "It's nice to meet you," she said.

"Thanks. I like your outfit," I told her.

Stacey looked down at her attire. "Oh, thank you. It's kinda hard to be sophisticated when everyone else around you is wearing jeans and stuff."

I giggled a little.

Mom stood up. "Maureen, are you in the mood for any coffee?" she asked.

Maureen nodded. "Of course….your name is?"

Mom blushed. "Oh, my name is Terri," Mom replied. She got up from the couch and walked towards the kitchen.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to find the coffee maker in this jumble," she remarked.

Maureen nodded with agreement. "I'll never forget the first time we moved here to Stoneybrook," she said, walking into the kitchen.

Mom followed along with Sara into the kitchen.

"You moved here, too?" I asked Stacey.

Stacey nodded. "Yeah," she answered. "I actually moved here _twice_."

"_Twice_? How come?" I asked.

"The first time I moved here, was a year ago. My dad's company in New York City transferred him here, so we had to move. But when they transferred him back, we moved right back there. Then Mom and Dad got divorced, so Dad moved to another apartment in NYC and Mom and I moved back here."

"Wow. That's more moving around than we did," I replied.

"Where'd you guys move from?" Stacey asked.

"We moved from Sweet Valley, California," Mark interjected before I could answer Stacey's question.

"Sweet Valley? That sounds like a cool name for a town. What's it like down there?"

I shrugged. "I guess it's like any other Southern California town," I said. "Plenty of beaches and stuff. And it's always warm."

"I have a friend who lives in California. Her name is Dawn. She lives in Palo City. Have you heard of Palo City before?"

I nodded. "I actually have a cousin who lives in Palo City. It's right next to Los Angeles and it's only, like, an hour away from Sweet Valley," I said.

All the while I was talking; Mark was smiling at Stacey shyly. Stacey took notice of him.

"Your little brother is so cute! Do you baby-sit often?" she asked.

"Sometimes, but not a lot. Why?"

"Well, if you're not busy, I'd like to baby-sit sometime. I mean, if that's okay?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

Stacey smiled. "Cool. I'd like to get to know you guys some more. I mean, I have friends here, but no one in my neighborhood."

"Well, you don't seem to be dorky or anything," I said.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well…I thought Connecticut kids were all dorky," I admitted.

Stacey snorted. "Oh,_ please_. I'm nowhere near dorky. In fact, I don't think there's anyone in Stoneybrook who's a dork…except maybe Alan Grey."

"Who's Alan Grey?" I asked.

"You'll see…Oh, what school are you enrolled in?"

"I think Stoneybrook Middle School. Why? Is that the school you're in?"

"Yep. And if you're worried about how you'll fit in, trust me, everything'll be fine. It takes awhile to fit in. Even someone like me."

I gulped.

Stacey looked around. "Are you going to give me a tour of the rest your house?" she asked.

"Uh, sure," I replied. I lead the way to my new bedroom.

I opened the door and showed Stacey the insides of my messy bedroom. The bed was there, but a lot of other furniture in there was disarranged and looked out-of-place.

"Man, this place is desperate need of some order," Stacey replied.

"Yeah, I know. But…um…Mark, what are you doing here?" I asked my little brother, who was still with us. I hadn't even noticed he was here.

Mark blushed. "Uh, I'm just gonna go," he said, backing away towards the door. "Nice meeting you, Stacey," he said, smiling at her.

I rolled my eyes and scowled, but Stacey smiled back. "Nice meeting you, too, Mark," she said to him. Mark looked like he wanted to faint. He had this huge doofy grin on his face.

"He is such a booger sometimes," I said.

"I think he's cute. I love kids," Stacey replied.

"If you say so," I said.

"You don't like kids?" Stacey asked.

"I _do_ like kids, but I don't like to sit around watching them."

Stacey didn't answer. "Oh…Ooooh. Who's this guy?" she asked.

She was pointing to a poster-size picture of Johnny Buck. Johnny was wearing tight Calvin Klein jeans and a white muscle shirt. All of his muscles showed in all perfection.

"_That _is Johnny Buck, the hottest man in America. You never heard of him?"

Stacey shook her head. "Nope, but I do agree with you. He _is_ hot. Does he sound as hot as he looks?"

"He sure does. I have every single album of his and I've been to every one of his concerts. Everyone I know loves him. You wanna hear his music?"

Stacey smiled. "I'm dying to hear just what this hottest man in America sounds like. You're getting me hooked," she said.

I dug out my CD player, a Johnny Buck album and plugged in my CD player. I put the CD in and turned it on. Afterwards, Johnny's voice filled the room.

After the first few verses, Stacey began tapping her feet to the music. "This guy isn't so bad. He's actually very good!" she said.

Then she suddenly started dancing! "Hey, we can make good time here, you know. I can help you unpack and set up your bedroom," she offered.

"Okay. I guess I could use all the help I can get," I replied.

So, Stacey helped me move all the furniture around and toss out all the boxes. We then set all of my stuff from smaller boxes on my dresser, desk and night table.

"These old friends?" Stacey asked me, pointing to the oak picture frame the Unicorns gave me when I left.

"Yeah. Those are my Unicorn friends," I said.

"Unicorn?"

I briefly explained to Stacey about the Unicorn Club.

"Wow. Sounds like an interesting club. Do you miss them?"

"Yeah. I miss them already. Especially my best friend, Rachel."

Stacey nodded in agreement. "I understand what you're feeling. I felt the same way when I moved from New York. I had a best friend named Laine who I had been best friends with when we were little…"

It was nearly 10:00 when Stacey's mom called her. The two of us had spent four hours talking to each other.

My bedroom looked halfway decent. All the boxes were gone, my bed was made, the floor was neat and my dresser and closet were now full of my clothes and shoes.

"Thanks for helping me in here. It finally looks like a room again," I replied.

Stacey beamed. "No problem. I guess I'll see you in school tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Cool. Oh, can I borrow this Johnny Buck CD? I'll give it you tomorrow."

"Uh, sure," I said.

Stacey grinned. "Okay. See you," she said.

"See you."

After she left, I picked up my diary, but didn't write in it right away.

I put it under my bed and went into our new kitchen.

Mom and Sara were sitting at it, drinking hot chocolate and talking.

"Hey, sweetie. How was your _long _chat with Stacey?" Mom asked.

"She seems to be very cool. If she had gone to SVMS, she would so be a Unicorn," I said.

Sara rolled her eyes (Sara is not too fond of my old Unicorn friends). "Oh, by the way, Rachel called while you were talking to Stacey. She left a message. You want to call her now?"

I looked at my watch. "Not tonight. I'm too tired, but I think I'll call her after school."

Sara shook her head. "How are you going to be spending your hours after school?" she asked.

I hadn't thought about that. I didn't know a_nything_ about Stoneybrook. Plus, I didn't have any friends here except for Stacey McGill.

"I don't know," I admitted. "What about you? You think there's a good hangout here that's as good as the Dairi Burger?"

The Dairi Burger is Sweet Valley High's local hangout; All the high schoolers there hangout at the DB after school.

Sara just shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Stoneybrook will surprise us all," she said. "I can't wait to start school tomorrow," she said.

It was my turn to roll my eyes. If there's one thing about Sara that annoys me, it's her nerdiness. Sara is just like Elizabeth Wakefield, only Elizabeth is a little bit cooler than Sara.

"School? Out of all things to be excited about, you're excited about school?" I asked her incredulously.

Sara glowered at me. "Ellen, when are you going to be more concerned with your academics? I mean, don't you think it's time for a change since we're in a new place. You're not in Sweet Valley anymore."

"Whatever," I said.

Mom put down her cup of coffee. "Actually, dear, I think Sara is right. From what I remember, your grades in SVMS were terrible."

"Terrible? You've got to be kidding. I passed all of my classes," I said.

Mom shook her head. "Not quite. I saw your progress report transcript from SVMS. You got a C- in Social Studies, for example.

"Aw, Mom, you know how the boring the Hairnet's class was. I told you, didn't I?"

The Hairnet is the nickname the SVMS students gave to Mrs. Arnette, the social studies teacher at the school. She wears a hairnet over her head everyday whenever she came to class.

Mom shook her head. "That doesn't matter. Mrs. Arnette was a good teacher. However, I do agree with your sister; we should make some changes around here. In Sweet Valley, it seemed your social life was much more important than your education. I mean, you spent more time at Casey's with the Unicorns much more so than in your room with your homework. I don't want the same thing that happened in Sweet Valley Middle School to happen to you here. I want you to be more committed to your schoolwork."

I just rolled my eyes. I didn't answer. I simply stomped off to my room and slammed the door.

_Who does she think she is? It's not like I got Fs or anything, _I thought, seething inside.

I picked up my diary and began writing:

_Diary,_

_I hate Sara for being such a STUPID, NERDY BUSYBODY!!!! I mean, why is** she** so concerned with my grades and making a change just because we moved to Stoneybrook? And Mom actually agrees with her? The last time I checked, Mom was the one who forced all of** us** to change when she and Dad got that stupid divorce. If they hadn't divorced, I'd still be in Sweet Valley with all of my Unicorn friends. I miss them already. I miss Lila, Jessica, Kimberly and Mandy. But I really miss Rachel most of all. She's my best friend. If I were still in Sweet Valley, I'd tell her all of my problems and frustrations, just like I'm having now._

_I miss SVMS and Mrs. Arnette and Casey's Ice Cream Parlor and Sweet Valley Mall and…I miss Dad. I miss home._

_On a pleasant note, I met Stacey McGill, this really cool girl who lives right next door to me. Stacey's really from New York City, which probably explains why she dresses like a really sophisticated girl and not like a few of the people I've seen in my new neighborhood. Her mom, Maureen, looks pretty, too._

_Stacey is probably the first friend I've made so far in Stoneybrook. I even let her borrow my Johnny Buck CD. Tomorrow, I'll see her in school. I start SMS on Monday, Diary, so wish me luck tomorrow! _

_With Love, Ellen_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

_Oh, man. Today is my first day at SMS. Usually, I'm pretty sociable and likable around my peers, but today, I am freaking out because I don't really know anybody here except for Stacey McGill. What are Stoneybrook kids like? Ugh! Why am I blabbering on and on? You can do this, Riteman. You will make new friends and people __**will **__like you! I'm thinking afterwards, I'll call Rachel after school, just so I can talk to her. I miss her and the Unicorns so much._

_With love, Ellen_

**M**om rode Sara, Mark and me all to school. She dropped off Sara first in front of Stoneybrook High School. When Sara stepped out of the car, she didn't look at all afraid or nervous. She waved to us as she walked inside the school.

Next, was Mark, who was to attend Stoneybrook Elementary. When we dropped him off, he didn't look nervous, either. He gave Mom a kiss, grabbed his backpack and lunch box and stepped out.

"Have a good day in school, sweetie!" Mom called after him.

"Bye!" Mark replied.

We drove off. It was just me and Mom now.

During the entire car ride, the two of us didn't say a word. I suspected Mom didn't want to say anything to me after the little argument we'd had last night.

When Mom finally pulled up in front of SMS, she turned to me (I had been sitting in the backseat of the car).

"Honey, you're angry with me, aren't you?" she asked.

I shrugged impassively. I didn't want to give Mom the satisfaction of knowing she was right. I was angry with her.

Mom sighed. "I just want you to do well, sweetheart. Don't you think it's time for some new changes?"

I didn't answer her. Instead, I just shrugged again. "I'll see you later, Mom," I said to her as I slid my way out of the car.

After Mom drove away, I stared at the front of the school. It was big, that was for sure. But it wasn't as big as SVMS. It was early September, so it was still warm enough to wear shorts and the like.

I remembered what it was like back at SVMS; I knew almost everyone and knew where everything was. Here, I felt like a complete stranger. At SVMS, I was popular. Here, no one knew Ellen Riteman existed.

I took a deep breath and began venturing onto new and unexplored territory.

"Hey. Nice shirt," a girl complemented me.

I had been so busy daydreaming; I hadn't noticed the girl had been talking to me at first.

"You talking to me?" I asked, surprised.

The girl laughed. "Yeah. I just wanted to tell you that I like your outfit. Cool shirt. Who's Johnny Buck?"

I wanted to make a good impression on my first day, so I put together my opinion of a great outfit. I was wearing my old Johnny Buck T-shirt that slung at the shoulders, my black denim skirt, and a pair of hot-pink leg warmers that were given to me as a gift from Mandy and my black ballet slippers. My hair was held in place with a hot-pink headband.

"Oh. Johnny Buck's just one of my favorite rock musicians," I replied.

The girl smiled. "Well, I like your taste in music already. You seem like a cool chick," she said. She then extended her hand out.

"The name's Cokie Mason," she replied.

"Ellen Riteman," I told her, shaking her hand.

"Haven't seen you around. Are you new?"

"Yeah. I'm originally from Sweet Valley, California, but my family and I moved out here just last week."

"How do you like Stoneybrook so far?"

"To be totally honest, I think it's drippy. There's nothing to do around here."

Cokie nodded her agreement. "Tell me about it. Everyone at this school are _complete_ dorks…well, except for me, of course, but I _do _agree with you as far as how dull this town is. I bet we're on the drippy scale of 100."

I laughed a little.

"Want me to show you around?"

"I guess. I just need to find my friend first. She has to be around somewhere."

"Who?"

"Do you know Stacey McGill?"

Cokie rolled her eyes. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. You don't hang around _her_, do you?"

"Well, I only met her yesterday, but I thought she was pretty cool."

Cokie snorted. "Are you kidding? Yeah_, right_. McGill is what people call a poser. She _acts _all cool and sophisticated, but she hangs around with dorks. You should _see_ the freaks she hangs out with. Me, on the other hand, I'm the one around here everyone talks to. Everyone at this school adores me."

She then put her arm around me. "And I can help have people adore you, too. When you're with me, everyone will know your name."

The wheels in my head began whirling. An idea was forming.

"Well, maybe we could form some kind of club," I suggested.

Cokie looked at me with interest.

"Club? What kind of club?"

"I don't know. Just a club for popular girls. I was a member and president of this club back at my old school called the Unicorns. We were extremely popular."

"That's a great idea! Tell me more about this Unicorn thing. It sounds pretty cool."

"Okay…"

And so I began telling Cokie about the Unicorn Club history and she looked completely engrossed and interested.

I couldn't believe it. Things were locking up.

_Okay, diary. I met yet another cool person named Cokie Mason. She liked my outfit! That's how we suddenly became friends. Now, she's interested in starting a new club here at SMS, full of the most popular girls here at Stoneybrook Middle School. We might have a new Unicorn Club here! Isn't that cool or what?_

_I haven't seen Stacey around yet, but Cokie told me Stacey is a poser and a dork. I don't think that's true; Stacey seems to be extremely cool, but I didn't say anything else about to Cokie.. I think Stacey should join the new Unicorn Club if we have one. She'd be an awesome Unicorn._

_And Mom and I are having problems. I really need to talk to her._

_Plus, I have to call Rachel, too. I need to know what's going on with her and the rest of the Unicorns. And I need to call Dad, too._

_Ahh! I feel as if my mind is going to go overboard. So much going on._

_Love ya._

_With love, Ellen_


End file.
